The National Pension Commission has announced the first accredited pension agent for enrolment in the Personal Pension Plan; the body has announced this on its social media handles.

The PUNCH reports that the PPP was initially named the Micro Pension Scheme and targeted the informal sector to boost enrolment in the country’s formal pension industry.

Announcing the first APA, PenCom said, “Awabah has been licensed by PenCom as the first APA to support marketing and registration of participants into the PPP as part of PenCom’s commitment to expanding pension coverage across the Nigerian workforce.”

The regulator added that the “Personal Pension Plan” is for self-employed individuals and other workers operating outside formal employment, i.e., artisans, traders, freelancers, consultants, and professionals such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, etc. Accredited Pension Agents are companies licensed by PenCom to market the PPP and register individuals under it.”

The PUNCH reports that Awabah is also a PenCom-approved payment solution service provider, a new solution introduced to ensure a secure, free, and digital pension remittance platform in the country.

As of the third quarter of 2025, industry data indicated that the majority of the Retirement Savings Accounts under the rebranded Personal Pension Plan were largely unfunded, marking a glaring disparity between registration and actual contributions within the micro-pension scheme.

According to the third quarter 2025 report from PenCom, only 7.6 per cent of accounts were funded in Q3 2025. Specifically, as of 30 September 2025, a total of 206,917 RSAs were registered under the Personal Pension Plan, of which 15,677 (7.6 per cent) were funded during the quarter, while 191,240 (92.4 per cent) remained unfunded.